Roundball Mining Company » Chukwudiebere Maduabumhttp://www.roundballminingcompany.com
We'll move the earth for a title!Sun, 29 Mar 2015 06:26:46 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.1.1Complete Interview with David Thorpehttp://www.roundballminingcompany.com/2012/07/16/complete-interview-with-david-thorpe/
http://www.roundballminingcompany.com/2012/07/16/complete-interview-with-david-thorpe/#commentsTue, 17 Jul 2012 02:17:08 +0000http://www.roundballminingcompany.com/?p=4159For those of you who are interested, which should be all of you, you can listen to Charlie’s complete interview with David Thorpe from Las Vegas where they discuss not only Chu Chu, but also Evan Fournier and the Nuggets as a whole.

]]>http://www.roundballminingcompany.com/2012/07/16/complete-interview-with-david-thorpe/feed/1Nuggets have a plan for Chukwudiebere Maduabumhttp://www.roundballminingcompany.com/2012/07/16/nuggets-have-a-plan-for-chukwudiebere-maduabum/
http://www.roundballminingcompany.com/2012/07/16/nuggets-have-a-plan-for-chukwudiebere-maduabum/#commentsTue, 17 Jul 2012 00:19:12 +0000http://www.roundballminingcompany.com/?p=4154As the Nuggets walked off the floor following their first Summer League game In Las Vegas, few players were more bothered by the loss than Chukwudiebere Maduabum, the only member of Denver’s roster who didn’t enter the game.

The solemn look on his face revealed just how much of burden Chu Chu is carrying on his newly chiseled shoulders. After being selected by Denver with the 58th pick in the 2011 draft, Maduabum spent the better part of the year off the radar, sculpting his upper body while Visa issues prevented him from joining the D-League’s Bakersfield Jam for the 2011-2012 season.

It’s easy to tell how badly Chu wants to seize this opportunity to compete and prove himself. Masai Ujiri’s decision to draft him out of the D-League after he played only three games and a total of 20 minutes was questioned by many. NBA Draft analyst Fran Frischilla was especially critical of drafting someone who had accomplished so little over a wide pool of proven college athletes.

Not all experts were down on Denver’s decision to draft an enigmatic talent like Chu though, especially those who had seen him play. Just ask David Thorpe, ESPN NBA Analyst and Executive Director of the Pro Training Center in Clearwater, Florida.

“He might be the smartest player I’ve ever coached in my life. I’m 47 years old and been coaching for 25 years” said Thorpe, who spent 10 weeks helping Maduabum develop his game in preparation for the 2011 NBA Draft. “I said ‘if you don’t play basketball, you should be a physicist.’ To our experience, he just had that kind of brain. It’s a new game for him and he had only been playing a couple years but he picked things up very, very quickly.”

I asked Thorpe to describe what led him to the process of giving Chu a crash course of instruction in preparation to play in the NBA.

“We were told if he could learn enough in 10 weeks, the Nuggets and a couple of other teams had already seen enough potential as a shotblocker. The idea was floated to us that he could be an Ibaka-type.”

In addition to raving about his basketball IQ, Thorpe quickly realized that Chu Chu did indeed have the athleticism and the shotblocking instincts to be a real defensive force.

“By the end of the summer, he was scrimmaging against University of South Florida players and doing very well against them. Meanwhile, they’re a team that finished at a high level in the Big East, made it to the NCAA tournament and actually won a game there. Chu would have been their best player.”

I could tell there was a real sense of pride in hearing Thorpe talk about his experience with Chu Chu, a player who surprised him and showed the kind of potential that really excited him as a coach.

Watching Chu struggle through his first NBA game ever, I could see some of the tools and raw talent Thorpe had described. There were also a lot of nerves and inexperience, which weren’t all that surprising considering how long it’s been since Chu played in an organized, professional game setting. I asked Thorpe to describe what he saw out of Chu’s first game and where his development stands going forward.

“Well, you wanna see him play athletically which he’s doing a little bit. I’d like to see a lot better recognition of things that are happening. He’s just reacting to everything; he’s not dictating anything, but again it’s his first ever game. I wouldn’t be surprised if he watches film of this and gets better in the next couple of games.”

While it’s obvious Chu has a ways to go at this early stage in his development with the Nuggets, I got the sense Thorpe has a clear vision of the long-term process Denver is facing with regards to him helping the team.

“He’s a guy that with his age, athleticism and intelligence – if he grew up in Chicago or somewhere, he’d be a first round pick. I think that’s what Masai saw in him — that this is a guy who is so off the radar, we just need to put him through the grinder a few years. Next year he’ll live in the D-League, I would think. It’s possible he could go to Europe too but he just needs to play a lot.”

Talking with Thorpe made me realize just how much goes into the process of preparing players for the NBA, both mentally and physically. It’s something that can’t be rushed and requires a long term plan with incremental step-by-step goals. I’m not sure Chu ever cracks the rotation as the defensive four and energy guy Thorpe envisions him becoming, but I do know Thorpe sees no reason why he’s not going to get there eventually.

“He’s a guy who is going to be like an Ibaka. He scores with either hand, he’s got a nice looking shot, he lives in the gym, he’ll figure anything out because of his intelligence and he’s got big time instincts to block shots. Another year, he’ll compete to be on the team and after that he’s got a chance to be a rotation player. He’s gonna have to be an off the bench energy guy. He can be that guy, I just don’t think he’s learned how to do it yet. I think he’s got the athleticism for it, now he just needs to learn how to play that way. I think it’s inside of him and it’s just going to take a while to come out.”

I would like to send my most sincere thanks to David Thorpe for providing me with the chance to interview him. Follow David on Twitter @coachthorpe

]]>http://www.roundballminingcompany.com/2012/07/16/nuggets-have-a-plan-for-chukwudiebere-maduabum/feed/92012 Summer League Game 2: Denver Nuggets 77 Dallas Mavericks 88http://www.roundballminingcompany.com/2012/07/15/2012-summer-league-game-2-denver-nuggets-77-dallas-mavericks-88/
http://www.roundballminingcompany.com/2012/07/15/2012-summer-league-game-2-denver-nuggets-77-dallas-mavericks-88/#commentsMon, 16 Jul 2012 02:31:54 +0000http://www.roundballminingcompany.com/?p=4142I honestly didn’t know it was possible for a team to record just one fast break point in an entire game.

You learn something new every day. The summer league is a pretty loose interpretation of NBA basketball, but these are still real Nuggets coaches, real Nuggets players and (some) real NBA caliber talent competing in a professional setting.

The Nuggets’ performance on Sunday was offensive for all the wrong reasons. They shot 31.1% against the Mavs, recorded just 11 assists against 17 turnovers, and somehow managed the aforementioned one fast break point. Baskets are still worth two points in the summer league, but apparently the Nuggets didn’t manage to attempt a single shot on the fast break in 40 minutes of action.

Yeah, it was bad. Nevertheless there were some bright spots if you were able to stomach watching enough of the game to spot them. Evan Fournier showed good progress and was much more aggressive going to the rim, finishing with 15 points while looking like the second best player on the floor behind Dominique Jones, first round pick of the Dallas Mavericks in 2011.

That’s about all I got. Onto the ugly stuff, of which there’s a lot, and some individual player analysis followed by news and notes from around the gym.

Starters

Derwin Kitchen started at point guard again and played alright, but he continues to show why he’s not as much a real point guard as he is the least-bad option at the position. Kitchen did have 5 of the team’s 11 total assists, but also recorded four turnovers and as I mentioned before, couldn’t get the Nuggets a single shot opportunity in the open court. Kitchen isn’t a bad player by any means, but I don’t see a future for him in Denver and the lack of competent point guard play is making it nearly impossible for Denver’s offense to function.

Jordan Hamilton was looking to get others involved and not nearly as aggressive in terms of creating for himself. I get the feeling Hamilton is being used by the coaches as more of a playmaker and trying to prove he can fill that role. Hamilton displayed some much improved passing skills but still went out of control on a few of his drives and couldn’t provide the consistent scoring threat Denver needed to keep things close. Jordan has not played well and still scored 18 points for the second straight game. If he ever really gets rolling, he’s going to explode in one of these games.

Josh Carter got off to a hot start and showed he’s a more versatile scorer than previously thought. Carter scored in a variety of ways, showing off his silky smooth jumper while also having more success putting the ball on the floor and driving. I don’t like Carter as a primary offensive option and ballhandler but he certainly put up a strong performance showing he has the tools to possibly play in the NBA.

Evan Fournier started at the other forward and was by far the brightest spot of the game. He is still very inconsistent with his shooting but finally got more aggressive attacking the basket and finishing at the rim in traffic. I talked to Melvin Hunt and got the sense they really like him coming off screens and looking to get to the rim. Unfortunately he’s being forced to create offense on this particular team and Denver’s haphazard play isn’t leading to many quality shot opportunities for Fournier or anyone else. I still think he needs to shoot the ball a little bit better, but Fournier already looks like perhaps the most solid pro on the team.

Chu Chu started at Center. In his first NBA action ever, Maduabum was reacting to everything and was often a step slow on where he needed to be. Chu has really improved his body and he played under control for most of the game, displaying solid fundamentals against the bigger, stronger David Harrison in the post. I would like to see Chu rebound the ball a better and provide more of a defensive presence down low, but it’s hard to say anything bad about Chu in his first NBA experience ever. He’s still trying to learn how to fit in.

Bench

Gani Lawal finally did a few good things and tied Jordan Hamilton with a team-high 7 rebounds. He still shot just 3-for-9 and made a couple of truly headscratching mistakes, such as failing to properly inbound the ball off a made basket. Defensively Gani finally made himself useful, taking a charge and providing much better help than he did in game one.

Quincy Miller started off great, grabbing a couple of early offensive boards while showing he’s not afraid to mix it up in the paint. Unfortunately his offense took a step back and Quincy continues to struggle in terms of finding a role he can succeed in off the bench. I believe Miller needs the ball more often to be effective and I’m hoping Chad Iske gives him a start before the week is over with.

Demonte Harper once again played a few first half minutes and didn’t provide much of a glimpse into his game. I loved the fact he got to the line four times in only 9 minutes, but he was only able to make one.

Izzet Turkyilmaz was a major disappointment and didn’t really do anything after showing promising skills on both sides of the court in game one. Defensively the Nuggets were very poor with Turkyilmaz in the game and he continues to make extremely odd decision on the offensive end.

Jorge Guttierez isn’t giving the Nuggets any reason to keep putting him in these games. He had five turnovers in 12 minutes and zero assists. His lack of size, speed, length and athleticism is a major issue as Jorge just isn’t able to get to his spots and have an impact on the floor. The turnovers completely negate any positive contribution he might be able to make on defense, which is where Jorge is best.

Additional Notes

Kenneth Faried wasn’t dressed and sat out the game. He’s dealing with back issues and it’s not totally clear whether the Nuggets will risk playing him the rest of the week or give him more time to heal up.

Solomon Alabi told me he sprained his foot in the first game and wasn’t able to go through practices. When asked if he would be out for the rest of the week, Alabi said he’s going to take it day by day and see how he feels.

JaVale McGee and Ty Lawson sat courtside and apparently joined Arron Afflalo with some of the summer league practices going on earlier in the day.

This game really wasn’t good and showcased a lot of the flaws on Denver’s roster relative to the rest of the league. The Nuggets only brought 13 players while other teams are bringing much more and the lack of options at the Point Guard and Center positions are forcing the Nuggets to put some truly bizarre lineups on the court. I was talking to Nate Timmons on media row about how hard its been for the Nuggets to play their style and he pointed out how Denver probably didn’t record a single dunk the entire game.

Coach Chad Iske stayed in the makeshift “locker room” longer than usual and again didn’t make himself available to the media. I don’t think the coaches are stressing too much about wins and losses in summer league but I do think Iske is less than pleased with the overall performance and lack of adjustment he’s seeing out of his guys.

I talked to Nuggets assistant coach Ryan Bowen after the game, who told me he loves being on George Karl’s staff and has spent a lot of time developing Timo and Kosta on an individual basis. Bowen is a well spoken guy who still loves to compete and goes hard against the Nuggets players in drills and practices. Here’s what he had to say:

On the development process of Mozgov and Koufos last season:

“It’s fun to go against them because they’re both so competitive. They both want to play obviously, yet they both have each other’s backs. It’s interesting competition between them on a daily basis because they want to outdo each other, but also want what’s best for the team. They’re both really quirky in their own ways but they love to get after it as well.”

On what the coaches are looking for from Mozgov next season:

“I think just grow. He was playing really well last season and then he rolled his ankle. He was doing such a great job protecting the basket, coming over and helping from the weak side. You know his offense is going to come. The way we play, we run the floor and he runs the floor as well as any big out there. He’s got amazing touch and he wants to shoot outside shots which is great because he can space the floor, and I really think you’re going to see that more and develop in his game in the upcoming years. Just his length, size and being able to bang with big guys while having a nice touch around the basket – we call him “Nash” because he thinks he’s Steve Nash out there when he’s handling the ball.”

More player-notes by Kalen

Fournier: As I stated in Charlie’s last recap, I already know I’m going to regret even questioning Ujiri for this pick. If he keeps this pace up, I’ll be punching myself in the face by the end of Summer League… Fournier has looked fantastic thus far. Remember, he’s still only 19. This is his first real introduction into a scenario with guys who have the talent to be mainstays in the NBA. Add that to the fact Summer League has some pretty bizarre rules (10 fouls? Really?) and is teeming with Carmelo Anthony wannabees and it’s easy to see how a foreigner (or a Fournier!) could have a hard time adjusting… But that’s hardly been the case. Fournier’s confidence is growing, steadily. He’s without question the most versatile player on Denver’s Summer League roster. His court vision is phenomenal. I know it sounds bold, but I’d put his passing skills right up there with Lawson and Gallinari already. He just sees the floor that way. He’s always looking to attack — usually through penetration — but once he breaks past the initial layer of defense, he shows great poise in reading the next wave of defenders and either distributing or finishing in traffic… I’m not sure who did it first, but whoever compared him to James Harden hit the head of the nail. Fournier lacks the elite outside shooting and athleticism, but otherwise, he resembles Harden in more ways than one. I cannot say enough about Fournier through two games. I’ve watched a lot of Summer League ball and outside of Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Jeremy Lamb and Damian Lillard, I haven’t seen anybody who I could say looked definitively better than Fournier.

Hamilton: Again, he was looking for his shot. You can’t knock him for that. This is Summer League; it’s the one place and time coaches encourage aggressiveness, even to a fault. He made some really nice shots, which were encouraging, and did well on the boards once again. That said, it’s difficult from a spectators point of view to overlook all the ill-advised shot attempts. This might make fans cringe, but Hamilton reminds me a lot of J.R. Smith in this sense. He can really stroke it but his internal “shot limit meter” just doesn’t appear to be working properly all the time. It was especially bad when juxtaposed alongside Fournier and Miller who aren’t overshooting at all (Miller is the exact opposite). I agree with the readers who have mentioned his “demonstrative” behavior being somewhat concerning. He did this a few times in his short D-League stint and while it’s nothing to lose sleep over, it’s also nothing to raise a toast to either… Overall, I can’t complain about Hamilton. He’s averaging 18 points per game, rebounding at a high level, looking for his shot and perhaps exercising any of his demons now before the season starts. If he can score more efficiently he’ll be well on the way to having a great Summer League outing.

Miller: He’s not scoring nor shooting the ball well, but I love everything else I’m seeing from Miller. He has clearly undertaken the philosophy that he’s a rookie who isn’t going to see the floor for a while, so why not go in and do all the little things right that coaches love. He’s rebounding, hustling, looking to make the right/extra pass, being unselfish, cheering his teammates on, clapping after a good defensive play — all great signs from such a young player. Miller really is displaying his maturity across the board… However, he does need to be more aggressive. Just a few more “big plays” per half would be ideal. These don’t even have to be shots (in fact, it would be better if they weren’t), they just need to be situations where he has the ball in his hands and does something to create offense and put his team in a position to score. If Miller could do this, his Summer League could go from solid to extraordinary depending on what he does with these extra possessions.

Maduabum: Unfortunately Chu Chu was more toy than high-powered locomotive. He looked so, so raw out there. He was enthusiastic and hustled after lose balls, but more often than not he was caught looking like a deer in the headlights rather than someone who truly understood his place on the floor. It will be interesting to see how he plays in the upcoming games. He really needs to focus on defense, rebounding, setting firm picks and being in the right position to make an impact. Nobody’s asking him to Dream Shake his opponent out of his pants, but a few defensive stops would be nice.

Turky: Definitely came back down to Earth (did he ever leave?) after his first outing. He has a nice shooting stroke and really soft hands; he also seems to understand how to play the game and has fun doing it; but his wiry frame is really preventing him from making the type of impact he may be capable of. If he could add 30-40 more pounds — which is kind of hard to ever see happening to be honest — then the Nuggets might have something. Right now he’s a tweener in serious need of a hamburger and a haircut.

Others: Carter has a shooter’s stroke if I’ve ever seen one. The guy can flat out make it splash. He also showed other areas of his game which looked decent. Not a bad player at all. If the Nuggets had more roster spots available I could definitely see him getting a look… I totally agree with Charlie about Gutierrez. The guy looks way in over his head. He doesn’t have the athleticism or skill to hang with, well, the Dominique Jones of the world — which isn’t a good sign. He is playing out of position though. He shouldn’t be trying to ignite the fastest offense in the league. That’s just not what he does… Kitchen has some talent. He can do pretty much everything well, just not that well. I feel like he’s missing that last drop of elite something or other that would carve him out a 10-year career in the NBA. Scoring? Athleticism? Ball-handling skills? Not sure.

]]>http://www.roundballminingcompany.com/2012/07/15/2012-summer-league-game-2-denver-nuggets-77-dallas-mavericks-88/feed/292012 Summer League Game 1: Denver Nuggets 74 Golden State Warriors 95http://www.roundballminingcompany.com/2012/07/14/2012-summer-league-game-1-denver-nuggets-74-golden-state-warriors-95/
http://www.roundballminingcompany.com/2012/07/14/2012-summer-league-game-1-denver-nuggets-74-golden-state-warriors-95/#commentsSun, 15 Jul 2012 03:39:21 +0000http://www.roundballminingcompany.com/?p=4134Summer league is all about experimentation. In a setting where wins and losses aren’t exactly of the utmost importance, coaches are using the opportunity to throw a bunch of darts at the wall in order to see what sticks. While the results are a mixed bag that typically don’t lead you to any concrete conclusions, they’re often more interesting than the final score of the actual games.

That’s the way I feel about the Nuggets summer league opener against Golden State, which ended up turning into a blowout loss. While it certainly wasn’t fun seeing the Nuggets get throttled in a game they badly wanted to win, the entire team competed and there was plenty of individual growth that will help this Nuggets team evaluate how to get the most out of the summer league experience going forward.

The game was actually much closer than the final score would lead you to believe. Both teams played a high level in the first half, showcasing an exciting matchup between two fluid, high-powered offenses. Golden State really pulled away in the second half, where Denver’s offense followed their shoddy defense into a state of utter confusion and disarray.

That being said, there was a lot of personal growth and potential on display. Evan Fournier, Quincy Miller and Izzet Turkyilmaz all had extremely solid, if not spectacular NBA debuts. Jordan Hamilton and Kenneth Faried showed that despite a year of NBA experience, they are going through the same ups and downs of their first summer league experience as well.

Two things stood out to me about why Denver lost this game. First, they lack confident ballhandlers and most of all, a true point guard to initiate the offense. Denver tried to get out and run all they could, but lackluster passing in transition led to almost no fast break opportunites at the rim, which is perhaps the one thing that defines Denver Nuggets basketball. Secondly, the Nuggets couldn’t create any offense out of the post. Any and all attempts at establishing post position were thwarted by a complete inability to catch a pass in the painted area.

While the Nuggets kept moving the ball and finding quality shots in the first half, everything was either rushed or forced in the second. After the initial pick and roll action was stuffed, Denver wasn’t attacking with the same sort on confidence and it resulted in a slopfest of turnovers and low quality shots.

The biggest problem however was Denver’s defense. After committing just nine fouls while holding the Warriors to 39% shooting the first half, the Nuggets committed 8 in the third quarter alone. It was all downhill from there as Denver was outscored by 9 in the third period and 15 in the fourth.

After the game, I asked Quincy Miller if the Warriors did anything different to get themselves going in the second half, to which he solemnly replied “it was all us. We just didn’t get back in transition like we should.”

The key takeaway is that no one was particularly bad, at least not to a point that merits a significant level of concern. Overall I thought Chad Iske did a great job getting the players accustomed to Nuggets basketball and producing an outing solid enough for fans to feel confident about the player development still to come.

Here’s a little bit of individual player analysis followed by some interesting news and notes from around the gym

Starters

Derwin Kitchen is the only Nuggets guard fast enough with the ball to get the offense going. Chad Iske gave him the start and Kitchen responded with an efficient outing. He doesn’t really create anything off the dribble but Kitchen has solid form on his jumper and makes good use of his length and quickness to find openings. Unfortunately, he’s not much of a passer and didn’t do a whole lot to get the Nuggets going in pick and rolls.

Kenneth Faried really struggled with his shot. As Jeremy predicted last week, he’s working on improving his ballhandling and a drop-step move in the post. I found it really odd that the Nuggets were running so much offense through Faried yet he never attempted a single jumper. There was a lot of overdribbling from Faried, who said his back tightened up considerably towards the end of the game. Despite the less than efficient outing, Faried managed to make an impact and looked more like a legit NBA big man than anyone else on the floor.

There’s much more coming on Evan Fournier shortly, but he was overall very solid in his first NBA action. I thought Fournier needed to be a little more aggressive attacking the rim out of pick and rolls, but he moves well without the ball and has fantastic court vision. Fournier’s really a team player and plays the game in a very confident manner. At times I think we struggled with the amount of physical contact that was being allowed. Stay tuned for a lot more on Fournier coming soon

Jordan Hamilton had a great first half and missed all 8 of his shots in the second. He was extremely aggressive and constantly attacking, but had some trouble controlling his dribble. The important thing is Jordan was very aggressive and played solid defense on the likes of Harrison Barnes and Klay Thompson. He looks quicker and more explosive than he was last season. Hamilton needs to improve his shot selection quite a bit, but as Melvin Hunt told me after the game, the Nuggets have a lot of confidence in Hamilton and they don’t mind him trying to create his own shot.

Solo Alabi played 8 minutes and never attempted a shot. He did do a fantastic job on the boards and played solid interior defense without fouling. I expect Alabi to play more as Chad Iske continues to experiment with his lineups as I think he knows what Alabi is going to provide.

Bench

Gani Lawal was the first big off the bench and was the only player who it’s hard to say anything positive about. He fumbled a lot of passes, fouled a lot and was frequently caught way out of position on defense. He does have very solid NBA athleticism and I don’t expect another game this bad, but he couldn’t stay on the floor and didn’t give the Nuggets any sort of inside presence at all.

Josh Carter has great form on his jumper. He’s a fantastic three point specialist with a quick release. As a ballhandler he was quite bad however, totaling four turnovers in just 11 minutes of playing time.

Quincy Miller got the rookie treatment from the rest of the team. The ball wasn’t finding him in the first half but he did a solid job crashing the boards and creating extra possessions. Miller often found himself mismatched on defense against bigger and quicker players but did a solid job contesting shots and helping where no other Nuggets would. I wish the Nuggets would put the ball in Quincy’s hands a little more because he’s got a versatile skillset and played a smooth, very composed game.

Izzet Turkyilmaz was the surprise of the game for me. This guy should be playing regular minutes throughout summer league as he’s a very good passer and always looking to work off his teammates in any way possible. He has a great feel for the game and despite having a serious weight issue and some jittery hands early, this guy has a ton of skill and displayed remarkable toughness for a player of his stature. He does not back down from physical play and I’m extremely excited to see more of this kid over the next week. Izzet made an amazing pass on the break before getting absolutely hammered at the rim which was one of the most memorable plays of the game.

Demonte Harper played less than 4 minutes in the first half and didn’t see the floor again. Granted, he didn’t look great but a measley four minutes isn’t enough to make any sort of observation about whether or not the guy can play.

Jorge Gutierrez didn’t see any minutes until the fourth quarter, which was more or less garbage time with the way things were going. He’s quite small in stature and doesn’t possess extraordinary strength or quickness, so his path to the next level is going to be a difficult one. Jorge played extremely hard and bullied his way to the rim a few times but overall it was extremely tough to judge what kind of player he is based on the limited action we saw tonight

Additional Notes

Julyan Stone is not with the team and is described as having a left hip injury. I couldn’t get any further information on his status. If Julyan isn’t available for Summer League and is in danger of missing training camp, he could be in serious danger of being waived. I have nothing concrete on this issue right now and will try to figure out exactly what’s going on soon.

Chu Chu Maduabum was the only player who didn’t see the floor. I talked to him after the game and he said issues with his Visa prevented him from playing in the D-League last year. When asked if he’s talked with Masai about his future with the team or a training camp invite, Chu said he hasn’t discussed anything yet. If he’s not offered a contract this season, Chu told me he’ll probably go play overseas. When asked what position he sees himself playing in the NBA, he said “definitely the four” and definitely looks like he’s improved his upper body strength a great deal. I’d really love to see Chu play more as he’s an extremely physical specimen but it’s clear his future with the team looks shaky at best.

Anthony Randolph was in the stands with Masai Ujiri. The Nuggets have obviously shown overt interest in him which should please my colleague Jeremy Wagner greatly.

I talked to Wilson Chandler at halftime, who told me his rehab is on schedule and he’s just started jogging. He’s in Denver “full-time” this summer and told me he’s really focused on rehab.

Assistant Coach Melvin Hunt told me Gallo’s been hard at work preparing for next season and the Italian National Team. He said Gallo’s been focused on transforming his body and getting stronger with the help of Steve Hess.

]]>http://www.roundballminingcompany.com/2012/07/14/2012-summer-league-game-1-denver-nuggets-74-golden-state-warriors-95/feed/28Breaking down the 2012 Summer League rosterhttp://www.roundballminingcompany.com/2012/07/09/breaking-down-the-2012-summer-league-roster/
http://www.roundballminingcompany.com/2012/07/09/breaking-down-the-2012-summer-league-roster/#commentsTue, 10 Jul 2012 02:57:23 +0000http://www.roundballminingcompany.com/?p=4104Earlier today the Nuggets announced the 13 players Chad Iske will coach in the Las Vegas summer league next week. Nuggets fans should be pleased to know that every one of Denver’s draft picks from the last two seasons will be in attendance, only further proving that Masai and Josh are building an organization that values long-term player development. I’ll be heading out to Las Vegas this weekend to do some up close coverage of Summer League for Roundball Mining Company, and before our in-depth analysis gets rolling here’s a little bit of background on what we know about each of the prospects right now.

Jorge Gutierrez, PG, #5

Gutierrez promises to be one of the more interesting stories of the entire summer league. The former Lincoln High grad had a distinguished four year career at Cal, winning both Pac 12 Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year honors in his senior season. His calling card is defense and Gutierrez is known for shutting down high-powered scorers. Gutierrez’ performance at the NCAA level was good enough to get him drafted, but NBA teams probably decided to pass due to his unremarkable length and athleticism. Still, this guy is relentless on the floor and as Kalen told me after the draft, his defense and intangibles are amazing.

Beyond being a really interesting NBA prospect, Gutierrez has local Denver ties. He immigrated to Colorado from Chihuahua, Mexico at age 16 in search of a basketball future. He landed at Lincoln High and worked his way up to the prep circuit and eventually an NCAA scholarship with Cal. His extremely inspirational story has been the subject of some controversy as he was technically an illegal immigrant before getting a student visa to attend college. You can read more about Jorge’s fascinating background here and here.

Evan Fournier, G/F, #94

Fournier’s inclusion on the summer league roster comes as a bit of surprise since it’s not totally clear whether the Nuggets intend to sign him for next season. He still has one year remaining on his pro contract with Poiters, but it’s possible the French team allowed him to work out for the Nuggets or reached a buyout with him and his agent.

Getting an extended look at Fournier is great news for the Nuggets. After getting a little more acquainted with him following the draft, I have a new appreciation for his game and his potential to be an impact player in the NBA. There’s limited footage available of him, but it’s clear to me he’s at his best in two areas – transition and coming off screens, both of which make him a very good fit in an offense like Denver’s. I do have some doubt about whether or not he can get to the basket and finish at the NBA level as Fournier has pretty average strength, speed and athleticism. He also needs to improve his shooting numbers quite a bit.

The Nuggets roster is currently so full I doubt Fournier makes the team, but this is the one opportunity for Denver to coach him up and see what he’s made of against NBA caliber talent.

Josh Carter, SG/SF, #23

Carter is a 24 year old swingman out of Texas A&M. He went undrafted in 2009 and has since spent several years overseas, most recently with Maccabi Ashdod in Israel.

Kenneth Faried, PF, #35

Not a whole lot needs to be said about Faried. The Manimal is fresh off of averaging a double double in his first career playoff series and he’s in Vegas to stay in shape and expand his game. Faried doesn’t have a whole lot to prove relative to the rest of the fringe NBA prospects here and he’s likely going to embarrass a few of them. Faried will definitely try to add some things to his game, but avoiding too much wear and tear or injury is priority number one.

Jordan Hamilton, SG/SF, #1

We already covered Hamilton pretty extensively in the 3-on-3, so I’ll keep this short. This is a big summer for Jordan Hamilton. He’s in position to help the Nuggets a great deal next season, but he’ll first have to carve out a role. It starts with showing the coaches he isn’t a rookie anymore and is worthy of more responsibility. If Hamilton struggles or looks disinterested as he did in the D-League last year, his development could be further stalled. Hamilton should lead this team and be a primary playmaker on both ends of the court.

Demonte Harper, G, #22

Kenneth Faried’s buddy and former college teammate gets a tryout with the Denver Nuggets. Harper was the second best player on that 2011 Morehead State team and is best known for his game winning three in Morehead’s upset win over Louisville in the NCAA tournament (which took place in Denver of all places).

Derwin Kitchen, G, #20

Kitchen went undrafted out of Florida State in 2011 and played last year for Maccabi Rishon in Israel. He’s an athletic guard and much like Josh Carter, I know very little about him and haven’t seen him play before.

Quincy Miller, SF/PF, #30

The consensus on Miller is that he’s too raw to help an NBA team right now. It doesn’t make sense for so many teams to have passed him up in the draft without believing that he doesn’t quite know how to use his length and size at the next level. Personally, I think that’s a bit shortsighted as Miller showed advanced basketball skill even in a reduced role at Baylor. Miller could be the total sleeper of summer league and turn out to be the best player on this team. On the other hand, I tend to believe his development will be a longer process because he has a very weird frame and is truly without a natural position in the NBA. Look out for Miller’s ability to score and defend in the post during summer league, it could tell a lot about how he might fit into the NBA game.

Izzet Turkyilmaz, PF/C, #12

I literally can’t find any footage of Izzet playing in a real basketball game. He’s an intriguing guy at 7-foot-1, but he’s going to be severely overmatched at just 210 pounds. I’m excited to see how he does as I know nothing about Izzet, but he better have incredible skill because his 7-foot-tall body is just not fit for NBA level competition yet.

Chu Chu Maduabum, PF, #14

Nuggets fans haven’t heard much out of Chu Chu since he was selected late in the second round of the 2011 draft. This will be the first time many of us get to see Chu play as he spent only a very limited amount of time in the D-League 2 years ago and hasn’t been seen or heard from since. I have no idea what to expect, but he’s supposed to be a rugged defender who blocks shots and rebounds.

Julyan Stone, PG, #10

Stone shows a great feel for the game whenever he’s on the court and reminds me of a young, hungry Afflalo with the way he gets after it on defense. Not a lot of players take the D-League seriously, but Julyan showed incredible poise and leadership in his stint with the Idaho Stampede last year. He can frequently be seen communicating with his teammates and making sure they know their responsibilities. The things Stone needs to work on going forward are his shooting and consistency on offense. He’ll need to be able to shoot and score a little more in order for the Nuggets to have more confidence in him as backup PG

Gani Lawal, PF, #31

I liked Lawal a lot in the 2010 draft, where he ended up being selected 46th overall by the Phoenix Suns. He’s a 6-foot-9 bruiser in the mold of Kenneth Faried but has had an incredibly rocky start to his pro career. This guy is a freak athlete who just hasn’t been able to show he’s a real basketball player yet. There’s some serious potential here and he probably belongs on an NBA roster. I think there’s a decent chance he would have been picked up off waivers had he not went overseas after being waived by the Suns last season.

Solomon Alabi, C, #50

Alabi is Masai Ujiri’s protégé, a young man Ujiri discovered in Zaria, Nigeria and mentored in his Basketball without Borders camp, eventually bringing Solomon to the USA to compete at the high school and collegiate level. Masai Ujiri was the assistant GM for the Raptors in 2010 when Toronto drafted Alabi with the 50th pick.

“Solo” has the most experience of anyone on this summer league team, although much of his two year tenure with Toronto was spent in the D-League. Masai really believes in this guy and that’s reason enough for me to get excited about seeing him suit up in Vegas. In my opinion, Alabi should be on an NBA roster due to his size alone – he’s a monstrous 7-foot-1 at a lean 250 pounds.

Holly MacKenzie wrote a great piece on Solo as he was gearing up for his rookie season in 2010, revealing a lot about his personality and his special bond with Masai

]]>http://www.roundballminingcompany.com/2012/07/09/breaking-down-the-2012-summer-league-roster/feed/34Denver Nuggets Announce Summer League Rosterhttp://www.roundballminingcompany.com/2012/07/09/denver-nuggets-announce-summer-league-roster-2/
http://www.roundballminingcompany.com/2012/07/09/denver-nuggets-announce-summer-league-roster-2/#commentsMon, 09 Jul 2012 22:17:26 +0000http://www.roundballminingcompany.com/?p=4097The Denver Nuggets have announced their summer league roster and it is complete with everyone Nuggets fans will want to watch.

Veterans Kenneth Faried, Jordan Hamilton and Julyan Stone are joined by all three draft picks, Evan Fournier, Quincy Miller and Izzet Turkyilmaz as well as last summer’s second round selection Chu Chu Maduabum. I was dead wrong in my assessment that Fournier would not be on the roster due to the fact that he is still under contract with his French team.

No.

Player

Pos.

Ht.

Wt.

School/Country

Exp.

50

Solomon Alabi

C

7-1

252

Florida State

2

23

Josh Carter

G/F

6-7

200

Texas A&M

R

35

Kenneth Faried

F

6-8

228

Morehead St.

1

94

Evan Fournier

G

6-7

190

France

R

5

Jorge Gutierrez

G

6-3

195

California

R

1

Jordan Hamilton

F

6-7

220

Texas

1

22

Demonte Harper

F

6-4

195

Morehead State

R

20

Derwin Kitchen

G

6-4

204

Florida State

R

31

Gani Lawal

F

6-9

234

Georgia Tech

1

14

Chu Chu Maduabum

F

6-9

210

Nigeria

R

30

Quincy Miller

F

6-9

210

Baylor

R

10

Julyan Stone

G

6-7

200

UTEP

1

12

Izzet Turkyilmaz

F

7-0

211

Turkey

R

There are a couple of other interesting names on the roster such as Soloman Alabi and Gani Lawal. There is also a great story in Jorge Gutierrez, but I will let Charlie or Kalen weave that tale.

]]>http://www.roundballminingcompany.com/2012/07/09/denver-nuggets-announce-summer-league-roster-2/feed/11HoopsHype features Chu Chuhttp://www.roundballminingcompany.com/2011/07/11/hoopshype-features-chu-chu/
http://www.roundballminingcompany.com/2011/07/11/hoopshype-features-chu-chu/#commentsTue, 12 Jul 2011 04:54:18 +0000http://www.roundballminingcompany.com/?p=2512In a recent article by the “Bible of the NBA” (aka HoopsHype), Jorge Sierra scores an interview with recent Nuggets’ draft selection, Chukwudiebere Maduabum. In the midst of a lockout with hardly any relevant Nuggets News, this is a blessing, especially considering the general lack of information available on the mystery man from Nigeria. In fact, in all likelihood this is probably the most detailed report on Chu Chu ever available to the public — all whopping 11 paragraphs of it. So please, if you have some time be sure to give this a read, as it’s extremely informative given the circumstances and should give Nuggets’ fans quite a bit of encouragement about a guy selected No. 56 overall. As Sierra mentions, Chu Chu clearly isn’t ready to play in the NBA just yet, so the lockout will actually benefit him greatly. But if early signs are any indication of how Chu Chu might pan out, we could potentially have a contributor as he’s already packed on 20 pounds and made drastic improvements to his game since coming to the US only a few months ago.
]]>http://www.roundballminingcompany.com/2011/07/11/hoopshype-features-chu-chu/feed/4Prospecting: examining the richeshttp://www.roundballminingcompany.com/2011/06/26/prospecting-examining-the-riches/
http://www.roundballminingcompany.com/2011/06/26/prospecting-examining-the-riches/#commentsMon, 27 Jun 2011 05:01:07 +0000http://www.roundballminingcompany.com/?p=2497On Thursday, the Denver Nuggets had what most consider to be a fantastic night. Landing long-time fan-favorite prospect Kenneth Faried was one thing, but landing him in addition to Jordan Hamilton — one of the most highly rated prospects in the entire draft — was a whole different story.

Though many Nuggets fans who followed this draft closely already know an abundance of information on both Faried and Hamilton, some still might not, and for those this piece may come in handy. This is simply a run-down of strengths, weaknesses, expectations, projections and all the other ingredients that go along with a general scouting report. It should be noted right off the bat that I have not watched extensive footage on any of the new Nuggets. All the knowledge I currently posses has been obtained from a few games here and there; scouting services like Draft Express, The Hoops Report and ESPN; and of course the occasional Youtube highlight reel. If you would like to make your own assessment of these prospects, I highly advise you to watch full game footage of multiple outings to gain a general idea of what that specific player brings to the table, or of course you can always do as I did and visit any of the sites mentioned above. If however you are too lazy to do this amount of work, I hope that my interpretation of these prospects can help you get further acquainted with them.

Jordan Hamilton

The run-down: Coming out of high school in 2009 both ESPN and Rivals.com had Hamilton ranked as the No. 1 small forward prospect in a class that included John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins and Derrick Favors. After committing to Texas, Hamilton played a season of up-and-down basketball where he showed flashes of brilliance in addition to disappointing body language and questionable character traits. Then in 2011, during his sophomore campaign, Hamilton appeared to turn the corner both on the court and with his attitude. His points per game shot up from 10 to 19; his rebounds, four to eight; and his free-throw percentage, .578 to .779. Unlike his first year at Texas, Hamilton evolved into a team player this past season and simultaneously answered most of the questions people had concerning his character: It wasn’t an issue. Finally Hamilton lived up to the hype he had coming out of high school, and after two years at Texas, decided to enter his name in the 2011 NBA Draft where the Nuggets were lucky enough to land him due to a three-way trade involving Dallas and Portland.

The game: Hamilton is an extremely gifted offensive talent. From spot-up shots behind the arc, to catch-and-shoot attempts coming off curls, to mixing it up down low — this kid can do it all. That said, Hamilton’s elite specialty is unequivocally his ability to stretch the floor and knock down difficult shots. When given space, he’s virtually a lock to sink a wet jumper, and more often than not, he’ll find this beyond the arc where he converts at a high rate (.385 percent last season). His quick release allows him to get his shot off in extremely tight situations, thus making him an absolute killer from downtown. But when facing stingy perimeter defenses Hamilton has shown the ability to rack up points down low. In fact, the consensus among talent evaluators is that of all the small forwards in the country last season, Hamilton was one of the better low post threats there was. He’s physical enough to bully smaller counterparts into submission, yet skilled enough to finish with finesse once he’s withing a close proximity to the rim.

Defensively, Hamilton appears to be a mixed bag, but one that certainly excels from time to time. No, he’s not Bruce Bowen, but Hamilton has shown on many different occasions that he’s capable of performing near lock-down defense for extended stretches of the game. The real dilemma for the Nuggets will be figuring out a way to get Hamilton to play with intensity on the defensive side of the floor for 48 minutes, but that’s still a problem 90 percent of the players in the NBA haven’t been able to figure out, so I wouldn’t sweat it too much. What’s probably more of a concern with Hamilton — especially coming to the Nuggets — is his shot selection. Although he’s entirely capable of making off-balanced, highly contested, one-footed baby-hooks, Hamilton sometimes seems as if he feels this is an OK shot to take. He also has a tendency to rush the shot clock or shoot when other teammates are more open, but again, all these “weaknesses” have drastically diminished during his tenure at Texas, which is a great sign. Still, Hamilton will have some work to do in this area, and as Jonathan Givony of Draft Express put it:

The NBA coach whose team ends up picking him will likely need to accept that he’s going to take some bad shots every night, some of which will go in… He still has a tendency to hunt shots, though, as there are certain moments of the game in which Texas’ offense will get stuck and he’ll feel the need to be a hero and win games all by himself.

The run-down: Unlike the aforementioned Hamilton, Faried was anything but a highly touted recruit coming out of high school. Garnering attention from only a few small Division 1 programs, Faried eventually signed with Morehead State University, where as his minutes gradually increased, so did his production. During his four-year collegiate career Faried saw his statistics per game grow from his freshman to senior season, as his points went from 11 to 17; his rebounds, eight to 15; his steals, 1.2 to 1.9; his blocks, .8 to 2.3; and his field goal percentage, .516 to .623. This drastic increase in production didn’t go unnoticed, even though Faried played in a smaller conference, as numerous awards and honors were sent his way including the Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year award (twice), Ohio Valley Conference Tournament MVP as well as a Second Team All-American selection (honorable mention twice). And although the awards were gratifying, breaking Tim Duncan’s modern era rebounding record en route to being selected No. 22 overall in the first round of the 2011 NBA Draft by the Denver Nuggets is undoubtedly Faried’s biggest accomplishment to date.

The game: As detailed in Roundball’s first Big Board, Faried is the epitome of heart and soul on the basketball floor. Standing only 6-foot-8 with shoes on, Faried relies on his never-say-day attitude to rack up the eye-popping numbers that he does on a nightly basis. It doesn’t matter if he’s in the first exhibition game of the season or tw0 rounds deep into the NCAA Tournament, as long as he has an opponent, Faried is going to give you 150 percent every second of the game. This unparalleled energy is mostly what allows Faried to haul in the staggering amount of rebounds that he does, but don’t get it twisted, this kid knows how to play the game, evident by his punctilious box-out form and ability to be in the exact place at the right time to make a big play. In addition to being an all-time great rebounder, Faried is also a hard-nosed defender who seems to take pride on this side of the floor.

The only question mark that leaves Faried’s resume somewhat tainted in the scout’s eyes, is his offensive game. Not only is Faried totally maladroit when it comes to creating his own shot, but even when he’s wide open with both feet set he has trouble knocking down shots. That said, averaging over 17 points per game in any Division 1 conference is an indicator that you can score the rock — even if it’s not in the most beautiful fashion. Faried likely won’t ever average more than 15 points per game in the NBA, but that’s perfectly fine as long as he rebounds and plays defense the way we know he’s capable of doing.

The verdict: If you read my piece after Thursday’s draft or if you’ve been following this blog for some time, then you already know how pleased I am with this pick. I think I speak for everyone in Nuggets Nation when I say that Faried was the exact remedy this team has needed for quite some time. It’s really too bad Carmelo Anthony decided to do what he did this past year, because Masai has proven he’s more than capable of assembling a heavyweight contender if given the time. Faried likely would have been that final piece to the puzzle, but regardless, he’ll be well worth it either way. Could he be a bust? Yeah. But so could every one of the other 59 selections in this draft. In my opinion, Faried has given us every reason to believe this won’t be the case, and when it’s all said and done, I have a feeling this pick might go down as one of the best in Nuggets history.

Chukwudiebere Maduabum

(photo unavailable)

By the numbers (per game): n/a

Strengths: n/a

Weaknesses: n/a

The run-down: n/a

The game: n/a

The verdict: Umm…. we’ll go with “incomplete” on this one.

Though the above may seem like an irreverent joke — it’s not. There is literally nothing available on the Internet (can you believe it?!) about this guy. All anybody knows is that he was discovered last year by someone in the D-League, and not long after joined the Bakersfield Jam where he played a total of 20 minutes combined during a three-games stint. Hell, even Scott Schroeder, who’s like the Ken Jennings of D-League basketball, has absolutely no information on this guy, however he did post a pretty funny and enthusiastic reaction to him being drafted. Also, Dime Magazine did a short piece on him where they point out that on his Facebook page he describes himself as, “thirty percent normal, seventy percent crazy.” (I like this guy already.) But I’ll leave you with perhaps my favorite Chukwudiebere Maduabum revelation that happens to come from his Wikipedia page, which is only one semi run-on sentence that looks like it was created a couple nights ago:

]]>http://www.roundballminingcompany.com/2011/06/26/prospecting-examining-the-riches/feed/34Dreams really do come true; Nuggets land Faried, Hamilton in 2011 NBA Drafthttp://www.roundballminingcompany.com/2011/06/24/dreams-really-do-come-true-nuggets-land-faried-hamilton-in-2011-nba-draft/
http://www.roundballminingcompany.com/2011/06/24/dreams-really-do-come-true-nuggets-land-faried-hamilton-in-2011-nba-draft/#commentsFri, 24 Jun 2011 08:13:31 +0000http://www.roundballminingcompany.com/?p=2483In Roundball’s recent Denver Nuggets’ Big Board 2.0 I stated, “If Faried does however manage to find his way past the Trailblazers, to put it simply: Nuggets fans should be ecstatic.” Little did I know however, that “ecstatic” wouldn’t even begin to cover the range of emotions I felt as David Stern announced Faried’s name as the Nuggets’ 22nd overall selection in the 2011 NBA Draft.

I distinctly remember when Ty Lawson was drafted. It was the 2009 NBA Draft, and the Nuggets had no selections in the first round. I wasn’t expecting much, although I knew from prior speculation that the Nuggets liked Ty Lawson and wanted to draft him in 2008 before he returned to North Carolina to win an NCAA Championship during his junior season. So when Ric Bucher got on camera and announced that the 18th overall pick wasn’t going to stay long in Minnesota, and would instead be sent Denver’s way, I became ecstatic. Jumping up and down, pumping my fists, I marinated in the moment of my favorite sports franchise making an excellent move on Draft Day.

That moment rendered me ecstatic. Tonight however, emotions from every corner of my mind and body engulfed me until I could barely move. Until Faried was drafted, my plan was to keep a running draft log throughout the evening, but after our selection, I couldn’t even type. Hell, I could barely see straight for that matter. I was so overcome with pure bliss and excitement that for a moment, I actually thought I might permanently suffer some sort of brain-damaged due to the sudden rushing overflow of dopamine in my brain. Eventually, I managed to cling on to real life again, but my draft log was totally halted after that. Here’s what I got leading up to that moment:

— As if anybody still doesn’t’ know every work to Adele’s hit-single, “Rolling In The Deep,” ESPN has chosen to use it for each intro and outro for the draft.

— I still think it would be smart of Cleveland to take Williams first, then whichever they feel is the best point guard with the 4th pick.

— To recap: The world would be a better place if nobody listened to Doug Gottlieb… ever. I’ve been tuning into ESPN Radio for the last several days and got to listen to him continuously bash Kemba Walker while comparing him to Mateen Cleaves and Corey Brewer. Then when he actually had Kemba on the air, he gave one of the worst interviews I’ve ever heard. You could totally tell he was skating around everything he’d been saying for the last few days, and instead of telling Kemba straight-up how he felt, asked him trivial questions like (paraphrasing here), “You gotta a nice suit, right? What color is it?” and “Are you gonna wear a top hat?” Turrible, just turrible.

— Finally the draft is underway. Here we go, pick by pick.

1. No surprise with Irving, but like I said, they should have taken Williams.

2. Another shocker. Though he says he’s a three, Williams will likely be a better power forward. He’s tall enough to rebound and defend other power forwards, yet quick enough to take them off the dribble. Guys like Lebron and Melo would smoke him if he played small forward. Either way, nice solid pick. I think he’s got a chance to be an All-Star one day.

3. I suspected Kanter would be the pick here. O’Connor knows what he’s doing, and with Favors, this could be one hell of a front court going forward. Utah has a HUGE team now. Does this set up the Jimmer pick?!?

4. GREAT pick by the Cavs! Totally unexpected. I just have to ask, where was this type of aggression when Lebron was there?

5. Are you kidding me? You’re really gonna pass on Knight when you already have Ed Davis, Amir Johnson and Bargnani? This isn’t the worst pick in the history of the draft (Nuggets probably still own that title for Tskitishvili or LaFrentz), but I just don’t understand how you pass on a guy with the potential of Knight. Makes no sense whatsoever. (Side note: What an epic fail of an interview by Valanciunas. He just flat out gave up because his English was so bad. At least he smiled at the end though; Darko was too cool for that even.)

6. What a hot kiss by Vesely and his girlfriend (wife?). I was kind of expecting some tongue after a while. Good thing he kept it PG-rated. Gotta laugh at Stuart Scott: “Not everybody can be that lucky.”

7. Biyombo to Charlotte seems perfect. If he’s a bust, it won’t be a big deal because, remember, it’s Charlotte we’re talking about here. (Side note: What the hell happened to Charlotte? Wasn’t it only a few years ago that they finally made the Playoffs, had an All-Star and seemed on the rise? Oh yea, that’s right, trading away the best player in franchise history for Joel “The Vanilla Gorilla” Przybilla will do that to you. I got Charlotte as the worst team in the league next year by a country mile. Who wants to take that bet?)

— How can you pass on Knight if your the Pistons? Please, somebody take Knight before I lose my mind!!!

8. THANK THE LORD! The Pistons just turned their franchise around, you heard it here first. In the interview Knight looks like he already has it out for the seven teams that passed on him. When it’s all said and done, he might go down as the best player in this draft.

9. Charlotte got a steal with Walker. Should make Biymbo’s life a lot easier.

10. The Kings shot themselves in the foot this draft. Knight would have still been available if they hadn’t traded back. I don’t know how to feel about the Jimmer pick. I like the kid more than most, but I don’t know if Sac-Town is the best place for him to thrive. What I do know: A nucleus of Knight, Evans and Cousins would have been deadly. This was definitely an owners pick. The Maloofs love Jimmer and were pushing hard to land him. It’s too bad really, ownership dictating who to select. This is the type of bad decision-making that can set a franchise back for years. The Kings could have had something special. Jazz gotta be breathing a sigh of relief now.

11. Saw this one coming from a mile away. Warriors should have taken Singleton though. You can’t win without defense.

12. GREAT PICK again by Utah. A the moment the Williams trade has already turned into Kanter, Burks and Favors, plus a first-rounder next year. I’d take that any day over Williams alone. Really, this could not have worked out better for Utah.

13. Markieff before Marcus, interesting… Gotta love the reaction from Marcus though: “It ain’t the end of the world,” as tears run down from his face. Certainly sounds like it.

14. Good storyline, twins going back-to-back. I like this pick a lot for the Rockets.

— OK, Indiana’s up. Who’s the whitest player available? How is Kawhi still hanging around?

15. Ahhh, that’s more like it. Steal for Indy, but they’ve got a lot of small forwards, similar to the Nuggets.

16. First member of the Roundball Big Board gets drafted. Vucevic is a guy I’ve been high on all along. He’ll be a good, solid pro.

17. Second member of the Roundball’s Big Board gets drafted. Nuggets fans dodged a freakin’ bullet here. How painful would it have been if the Knicks got Faried? I know I wouldn’t be happy.

18. Excellent pick by the Wizards. I was kind of hoping Singleton would fall to the Nuggets, assuming Faried would be off the board.

19. Uh oh, another member of the Big Board gets drafted and this time, it’s our guy: Tobias Harris. They have to trade with Portland now.

— Alright, for the first time all night, I’m starting to sweat bullets. If Faried is off the table we have to take Tyler.

20. Should have seen this one coming (Motiejunas). I thought they’d take Brooks. Pretty bad pick in my opinion, but hey, what would the Wolves be without bad picks?

Stop.

This is about the moment when everything became blurry. I knew that if Faried didn’t get drafted here, he was all ours. Anxiety began to fill my body, and naturally I took to Twitter to see if any deals were starting to emerge. All I could muster up in terms of how I felt was, “AAAhhhh, this is killing me!!! Faried is soooo close!!!”

When I noticed that the Nuggets and Trailblazers were on the verge of a deal that would send Felton to Portland in exchange for Miller, I looked towards the TV screen with an endless gaze of optimism. Something was up. I heard earlier that the two teams were having discussions about swapping picks, but until this point in time, nothing was imminent. As David Stern walked to the podium I froze, placed my hands to my face and stood there as the floodgates of my mind opened up, allowing images of Faried in a Nuggets jersey to cascade throughout my brain. Then… it happened. These next two quotes came directly from my notes, and were the last things I managed to write the entire night:

21. Nolan Smith, what is going on?!?!

22. Best moment of my life.

What I wrote for No. 22 was a bit of a stretch, but that’s how I felt at the time. Readers of this blog know how much I’ve wanted Faried since, well, the first time I even came on this blog to join up with Jeremy. No matter how many names fluctuated regularly on the Big Board, Faried was always our top guy, but with the Blazers slated to take him in nearly every mock draft by the most trusted draft “experts,” I figured he’d remain nothing more than ethereal dream. I tried to compare this feeling I was having to the one fans of a team like Cleveland must have felt when they drafted Lebron in 2003, but it wasn’t anything like that. Cleveland knew they were getting Lebron all along. They knew their franchise would forever be changed. For the Nuggets to land Faried this year, everything had to fall in place. He had to go through 21 teams to find his way to our roster, with the team right before us looking like a perpetual dead-end. Yet, it was happening. With the Stevie Wonder song, “For Once In My Life,” steadily growing louder in the back of my mind, I saw the long history of Denver Nuggets of draft failures flash before my eyes, and then vanish to the glowing sight of Faried in a Nuggets hat. For once on Draft Day, it seemed things were finally going our way… for once.

By the time Stern walked out from behind the shiny Denver Nuggets logos floating across the mega-screen above his diminutive frame, I was in an altered state of mind. This may sounds melodramatic, but I’m not even kidding you, I was out of it. Even when Stern said, “New Jeresey’s own,” and I knew that Faried hailed form Jersey, I still couldn’t come to grips with what was happening. The emotions running through my body naturally took over, and I began to jump up and down similar to the way I had two years ago when I heard Lawson was a soon-to-be Nugget. But this time was different. Unlike with Ty, I couldn’t stop jumping. I jumped, and jumped, and jumped, until I couldn’t jump any longer; and then I collapsed to the floor and lay there, mindless, staring up at the ceiling.

I had completely spazed out. There was no more gas left in me to move, no more voice left in me to cheer, no more thought left in me to think. I was numb.

After a while I realized how incredibly stupid I must have looked to my family, so I peeled my flimsy body up off the floor and sat down casually on the couch as if nothing had happened. Of course, the look on my mother’s face said it all. If she hadn’t felt I was crazy before now, this definitely did it. I’m not quite sure what I said as I glanced at her bewildered face, but I think it was something along the lines of, “I’m cool. No worries. Just got a little excited there. But I’m cool.”

Yeah… right.

For the next two hours of my life, my computer became a caravan of information as I journeyed through all the details of the rumored Felton-Miller trade. At first, the picks had reportedly been swapped, and upon hearing this, I was devastated. After soaring above Could Nine, I now found myself in the dark depths resentment. How stupid could I possibly be, overreacting the way I did, when I knew all along we’d been talking about trading the picks. I scolded myself for investing so much life, so much faith into this “dream,” when I should have stayed grounded all along. But then, more rumors, ones that said Faried was actually staying, and that as part of the deal we’d get the 26th pick in the draft. This breathed the life back into my soul, but I promised myself that before I would rejoice in anything from this draft, I would be absoutely certain it was true. And after hours of scanning the Internet for confirmation, it was finally provided by Benjamin Hochman in the form of a Tweet, of all things. Messy, fragmented and scattered, it read:

And that was that. The savvy Masai Ujiri had led the Denver Nuggets to one of the most successful drafts in franchise history by trusting the nuances of his scouting and making the most of disgruntled players with one year left on their contracts, just as he had done with a spoiled superstar only a few months earlier.

In the upcoming days Roundball will be bringing you detailed analysis on all of the Nuggets draft picks, as well what this historic draft means for current and future Nuggets. But for now, here are the basics:

The Denver Nuggets traded Raymond Felton to the Portland Trailblazers for Andre Miller, the 26th pick in Thursday’s draft (via Dallas for Rudy Fernandez) and a future second-rounder.

The Nuggets also acquired Chukwudiebere “Chu Chu” Maduabum from the L.A. Lakers for a future second-round draft pick. Chu Chu is a 6-foot-9 power forward from Nigeria who played for the Bakersfield Jam of the NBA D-League most recently.

With the No. 22 pick in the draft, the Denver Nuggets selected Kenneth Faried from Morehead State. His rebounding, defense and hard-working attitude will patch-up areas of need that have haunted the Nuggets for years. It now seems even more crucial that Nene re-signs, as a contrasting combination of he and Faried will make one hell of a dynamic duo going forward.

With the No. 26 pick in the draft (acquired from Portland via Dallas), the Nuggets selected Jordan Hamilton, a 6-foot-8 sophomore out of Texas who averaged 18.6 points and 7.7 rebounds per game last season. Hamilton had been slated to go somewhere in the early to mid-first round by most mock drafts, but slipped the late first-round for unknown reasons. This creates even more of a log-jam at the small forward position for the Nuggets, but it would be unwise to let anybody go for nothing, especially Wilson Chandler.